TRUST ISSUES
“Now, where is the water?” Donna demanded.
“Roughly fifteen minutes away in that direction,” Josh told her, pointing south.
“I see,” Donna said, her eyes following his outstretched hand.
“Would you like to go down to the sound, Donna?” Josh asked her bemused.
“No, I think I would like to check into our hotel first, I’m cold,” Donna said.
“Okay,” Josh agreed, and they got out the car. Rodney pulled away, leaving Josh and Donna with Eric.
“The hotel was checked, Mr. Lyman,” he informed them.
“Thank you, Eric,” Josh said, shouldering his overnight bag. He then picked up Donna’s too and took off to the reception desk.
After checking in Eric left them to their own devices, and Donna managed to convince Josh to make use of the luxurious bathtub.
“What’s that?” Josh asked her when he caught her wanting to add bath salts to their water.
“Dead Sea Bath Salt,” Donna answered. “It’s relaxing, purifying and has a soothing effect,” she listed the positives.
“Does it smell girly?” Josh asked, eying the bottle suspiciously.
“No, Josh,” Donna said, smiling indulgently, holding out the bottle so he can smell it. “Your verdict?”
“Okay,” Josh said nodding, and watched Donna pouring it into the hot water.
“Now, lose your clothes and climb into the tub,” Donna instructed him.
“You are not coming?” Josh squeaked.
“Of course, I’m coming. There is no way I’m missing out a relaxing bath with you,” Donna reassured him with a smile.
“So there will be no sex in the tub?” Josh asked, and his voice had a whiny edge.
“Not during the bath,” Donna clarified with a grin.
“After that?” Josh asked, sounding adorably hopeful.
“You bet,” Donna agreed. “But I want to enjoy this relaxing bath with you, Josh,” she added, stressing the word ‘relaxing’.
“Okay,” Josh said, shed his clothes eagerly and climbed into the tub.
“In a hurry there, Josh?” Donna asked teasingly.
“Yeah, I can’t wait to be relaxed,” Josh said with a sheepish smile.
“I see,” Donna said and climbed into the tub behind him.
“This is not the way I envisioned it,” Josh said, turning halfway so he could see Donna’s face.
“I just want to make sure that you are not distracted by me,” Donna said with irrefutable logic.
“Yeah,” Josh said, his tone bordering on disappointed.
“Just relax, Joshua,” Donna admonished him, and watched him as he tried. He was really sweet sometimes.
“I don’t want to squash you,” Josh said after fidgeting for almost a five minutes.
“You are not squashing me, now lean back and be quiet,” Donna said.
“Are you sure?” Josh asked as he gently leaned back.
“I am sure,” Donna said, hugging his shoulders from behind, forcing him to rest his head on her shoulder.
“This is nice,” Josh said after five minutes.
“Mmmm,” Donna murmured, her eyes closed.
“I’m glad we won this one,” Josh said.
“No talking shop, Joshua,” Donna said.
“I don’t want to, I’m just reporting on my state of mind,” Josh said and although Donna didn’t see it she knew he was grinning.
“Yeah, I’m glad too.”
“You pulled it off,” Josh said a minute later, and Donna heard the pride in his voice.
“You are talking shop again,” she warned him.
“No, I’m just expressing my admiration for my girlfriend,” Josh defended himself.
“That’s sweet,” Donna said, kissing him on his right shoulder. “Thank you.”
“How did you know that Baldwin and Taylor would vote for it?” Josh asked her. The vote was the day before, and they didn’t have time to talk about it since then.
“I met them at that fundraiser for ‘Cure Autism Now.’”
“They didn’t strike me the ones who would attend a fundraiser for autistic children,” Josh remarked.
“Yeah, exactly my thinking. And then I remembered Senator Stackhouse and I asked around discreetly and it came out that Baldwin has an autistic godson, and Taylor has an autistic granddaughter.”
“So you approached them at the fundraiser?” Josh asked her.
“No, Josh, I did no such thing,” Donna said. “I met them in their offices the next day and convinced them to vote with us.”
“Without promising them anything?” Josh asked her with awe in his voice.
“You wish,” Donna said with a bitter laugh. “They might attend fundraisers for the right cause but they knew I needed them.”
“What did you have to promise?” Josh asked with a sigh.
“Relax, I didn’t give away the shop,” Donna teased him. “I told them that I was in no position to give them the pork barrel they wanted. I promised them that next time you go jogging with the President you’d both wear ‘Cure Autism Now’ T-shirts. It was their idea, I had to try really hard not to say ‘yes’ too eagerly.”
“And what did they say when you told them that I sleep in a ‘Cure Autism Now’ T-shirt?” Josh asked grinning.
“Well, I told them no such thing. They said they’d make sure that both of you had a T-shirt for your next jogging session and that I had to make sure that there are photographers.”
“You are a genius, my dear Donatella,” Josh said, and Donna squeezed him closer after his praise.
“So, did you and the President sort out your misunderstanding?” Donna asked him.
“Now, who is talking shop?”
“That’s not shop, it’s a personal thing,” Donna said.
“No, we didn’t talk about him micromanaging and me being a control freak,” Josh said.
“Well…” Donna said with a sigh.
“Donna, what do you want me to do? He has other things to focus on; he can’t be bothered by the small things!”
“Yeah, I know that, but he is a curious man, Josh,” Donna said. “You could humor him on that one.”
“Humor him? So he could work himself into a tizzy over some petty thing?” Josh asked back indignantly. “It’s my job to keep the knucklehead stuff off his desk.”
“I know that, Josh, but he wants the knucklehead stuff,” Donna said.
“Yeah, I know,” Josh sighed.
“Josh, what did you do when President Bartlet went into some trivia frenzy?” Donna asked.
“We usually humored him,” Josh admitted reluctantly.
“Exactly,” Donna said with a nod. “You let him spout trivia and then went back to the important stuff.”
“He drove us crazy with that,” Josh said.
“Yet you respected and adored him,” Donna stated.
“Well, yeah,” Josh admitted.
“I know you respect President Santos, Josh. You could humor him with the knucklehead stuff and then move onto the important things,” Donna said.
“What would we do without you, Donatella?” Josh asked, and Donna knew she finally got through to him.
“The country would go to hell in a handbasket,” Donna quipped.
“Yeah, that about right. Thank you for being there for me,” Josh said, kissing her arms that encircled his upper body. “Is Helen giving him the same treatment?”
“You mean giving him a bath?” Donna asked teasingly.
“Okay, I might need bleach to erase that image from my mind!” Josh exclaimed.
“Don’t be silly, Joshua. I don’t know when and where they are talking about your relationship with the President but I know what she wanted to tell him.”
“What?”
“It’s a Sisterhood thing, Josh. I can’t betray her trust by…”
“Sam is in on it, it’s no Sisterhood thing,” Josh refuted.
“Okay, she will point out that he always says he trusts you but sometimes doesn’t act like it,” Donna said.
“I wonder why that is so?” Josh asked.
“Because he barely knows you, Josh. We are in our second year, and you are still an enigma to him. He doesn’t know what drives you although I think he is starting to get a pretty good picture about it after your little outburst in your office.”
“You two are dangerous,” Josh told her.
“Yeah, so you two better behave,” Donna warned him teasingly.
“We are so different, the President and I,” Josh said.
“Yet you have many similarities,” Donna said. “You both want to serve the country to the best of your abilities and you’d both be ready to do anything for your loved ones.”
“And we both have a gorgeous blonde to take care of us,” Josh added.
“You think the First Lady is gorgeous?” Donna asked him in a low voice.
“Well, you have to admit that she is looking very First-Lady-ish,” Josh said lamely.
“You think she is gorgeous?” Donna repeated her question.
“Donna, focus,” Josh admonished her, clearly deciding that offense was better than defense. “I told you you were gorgeous.”
“Yeah, but in the same breath you said the First Lady was gorgeous too.”
“Yeah, I’m beginning to regret complimenting you,” Josh murmured, and Donna couldn’t hold back anymore, she burst out in laughter. “Oh, you are the evil, Donatella Moss!” Josh said, turning back to see her face. She sent him a full-fledged smile, eliciting a grin complete with dimples. “Payback is a bitch, Donatella.”
“You wouldn’t punish your gorgeous girlfriend, would you?” she asked him with a pout.
“You bet I would!” Josh exclaimed, stood up, climbed out of the tub and lifted her out. Before Donna could complain he brought her into the bedroom and gently laid her down onto the bed.
“What do you have on mind, Joshua?” Donna asked in a sultry voice.
“Something that will result in *you* complimenting *me*,” Josh said, his eyes roaming her naked body. “And just so we are clear on this, I think the First Lady looks nice, but you, my Donatella, are drop-dead gorgeous.”
“Oh, Josh!” Donna let out a sigh after he leaned down to kiss her collarbone.
THE END